That Was the President, and That Was the Man
by ElyahGray
Summary: The end to an era.


Spoilers: Supergeneral knowledge of the show.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, they're all Aaron Sorkin's. Or somebody at WB or NBC's, I'm not really sure of the legality of that. But whatever. Not mine. Don't sue. The song is "That Was the President" by Phil Ochs, and it's one of the greatest songs ever written. Again, not mine, I'm making no money.  
  
Author's Notes: This one is uncharacteristically depressing, but no West Wing for a whole summer does strange things to people. Feedback makes the world go round!  
  
Oh, the bullets of the false revenge have struck us once again,  
  
As the angry seas have struck upon the sands;  
  
And it seemed as though a friendless world had lost itself a friend,  
  
That was the President and that was the man.  
  
It was not until five days after a sniper's bullet lodged in the President's left lung that Abbey Bartlet snapped. Not until five days after twenty-three of the most competent doctors and nurses in the country and the world spent fifteen hours trying to coax that fragile spark of life back into his unmoving body. Not until the fourth day of his lying in state did Abbey's stoic mask crack enough for her to shout at the reporter who called out a question to her.  
  
"Dr. Bartlet!"  
  
The familiarity of the voice stirred Abbey to look up, the way a thousand other inquiries had been ignored. She tried to speak, but five days of tears had degraded her voice. She tried again. "D-Danny?"  
  
She didn't know why she had answered his call; it had been an instinctive, almost visceral reaction. Danny Concannon was not, in Abbey's fogged mind, quite a reporter; he was closer to a friend, and should be answered.  
  
"Ma'am, will you give your consent to televise the President's funeral?"  
  
That was the moment where she could not tolerate any more: When even those who she considered friends were still clamoring for a piece of her husband.  
  
"Let him be mine now!" she wailed, tears suddenly slipping with recent familiarity down her cheeks. "He was yours his whole life. He lived and would've died in service to you!" Abbey howled at Danny, but also at the dozens of television cameras that shadowed her. "In the end he did die in service to you. I say he's given you enough, because now he's dead and he's my husband and he should be mine now!"  
  
Before she could continue, Amy Gardener was there with a reassuring hand on her shoulder, gently but inexorably guiding her to the motorcade. CJ, the skin around her own eyes bruise-colored, castigated Danny in a brittle voice. Embarrassing a reporter by disparaging his conduct in front of the press corps was something she never would have contemplated a week ago. But what was the use in amassing the political capital of a dead man?  
  
Oh, I still can see him smilin' there and wavin' at the crowd,  
  
As he drove through the music of the band.  
  
And never even knowin' no more time would be allowed;  
  
Not for the President, and not for the man.  
  
Donna Moss fell asleep on Josh's shoulder at the hospital. She had cried for hours, until at last she had been unable to hold her head up anymore. Josh, though he didn't realize it and wouldn't have admitted it if he had, had been glad of someone to take care of, if only to distract him from his own suffering.  
  
Here's a memory to share, here's a memory to save,  
  
Of the sudden early ending of command.  
  
Yet a part of you and a part of me is buried in his grave,  
  
That was the President and that was the man.  
  
A memorial was proposed immediately. It was to be a traditional, grandiose memorial, closer to Lincoln's than Roosevelt's. It was rejected almost immediately for several reasons, not the least of which was that it was unsuited to the man it was intended to commemorate. The cause was given up for almost nine years, until an architecture grad student submitted an elegant plan. It would be a Roman palisade on the Mall itself, providing shelter to a half dozen chess services. A bronze bust of the President would stand in the corner, observing the games, and the granite floors would be inscribed with both things that the President had said and some of his favorite quotes. The ceiling would be inscribed with President Bartlet's most noteworthy accomplishments, from his Nobel Prize to the appointment of Justice Roberto Mendoza.  
  
Toby taught his children to play checkers and chess at the board closest to the President's gaze, the one inscribed with "Idealism is the belief that we have within ourselves the capacity for greatness, the belief that we are all greater than the sum of our parts. Idealism is the fire that burns in men's hearts; the fire that freed the colonies from the British and freed the slaves. Idealism is not a shame, but a badge of pride; I am proud to be called an idealist." When they were old enough to understand, Toby explained how he and Will had agonized over every word. Molly went on to become an International Master, and arguably one of America's best women chess players.  
  
It's not only for the leader that the sorrow hit so hard,  
  
There are greater things I'll never understand;  
  
How a man so filled with life even death was caught off guard:  
  
That was the President, and that was the man.  
  
Leo McGarry sat alone in his office, waiting to hear the news. Though he had told the staff he wanted to make sure that someone of authority was in the White House to answer important calls, he just sat at his desk and ignored the phone. He stared at a bottle of fine scotch given to him by a thoughtless senator. When the young woman who brought the message he had expected for fifteen hours finally departed, he opened the bottle.  
  
Everything he might have done and all he could have been,  
  
Was proven by the troubled traitor's hand.  
  
For what other death could wound the hearts of so many men?  
  
That was the President and that was the man.  
  
Toby immediately declared his intent to leave political life. He got a job writing a column for the Washington Post and retired, only occasionally appearing on Crossfire. He settled amicably with Andi for half- custody of the twins, and while they never remarried, they became close again. CJ stayed in the White House for a few weeks, until the new President had appointed his new Chief of Staff and Press Secretary, before going to the Bahamas for a long vacation. She stayed for nearly two years. Danny spent three months with her, but the wounds of the White House were hard to forget, and they only dated briefly.  
  
The First Lady remained active in politics, though she was reclusive. She maintained control of the Bartlet finances until well into her eighties, funding programs important to her until the day of her death. Close friends reported that she never truly got over her husband's death, but her children and grandchildren visited frequently, and shortly before her death she described herself as a content woman.  
  
Josh moved back to Connecticut to serve as a consultant to the governor, and Donna went with him. They married six months later. When the junior senator from that state resigned in scandal, Governor Short appointed Josh to fill his seat. Josh served four terms, and co-sponsored legislation that led to the most significant campaign finance reform laws ever passed. He served six years as Majority Leader and eventually became Vice President. Amy Gardener served as his CoS for most of his career. Donna returned to college, earning a doctorate in economics and joining the faculty of Georgetown University. Her articulate and accessible refutation of trickle-down economic theory is credited with inspiring an entire generation of liberal thinkers.  
  
Zoe remains uncomfortable in crowded areas. She now works for the Forest Service in Yosemite National Park, where she lives with Charlie in relative obscurity. They have three children, all of whom are named after presidents.  
  
Leo returned to AA not long after the death of President Bartlet, and reaffirmed his vows with Jenny McGarry not long after that. He has written his memoirs, and is working on a third book about the administration he was a part of.  
  
Will Bailey and his sister amassed a considerable fortune working as freelance speech writers in Washington and around the country. Upon learning that CJ had returned to the county, they, along with Joey Lucas, formed the consulting firm of Bailey, Lucas, Bailey, Craigg.  
  
Yes, the glory that was Lincoln's never died when he was slain,  
  
It's been carried over time and time again,  
  
And to the honor you may add another name;  
  
That was the President, and that was the man,  
  
That was the President, and that was the man. 


End file.
